COMPARING PERSONAL LOANS
Personal loans are a bit of an expensive financial tool that are available on the market.
However many people have no choice in order to make ends meet, in order to make certain acquisitions which cannot be postponed, in order to pay for an unexpected medical bill, tuition fee and so on.
This is why comparing personal loans is an essential financial decision you simply have to make.
The most important thing is that you do thorough research so that you can see what available options you have.
You need to compare the overall costs for these loans (including all the fees and interest rates).
As a first step, you can make use of the loan comparison web sites available, and this way you can get a clearer picture of the options.
Then, you can ask other family members, friends if they know of a lender whose eligibility criteria are not that tough, and also the loan value is pretty good, and in general that it has good terms and conditions.
You need to keep in mind that personal loans are expensive so there must be a well grounded reason for you to take out one. Among these reasons, you can include:
- Paying off tuition fees
- Use the money for home improvements (this will raise the actual market value of your home, which is a positive step to take)
- Paying emergency bills
- Any other unexpected situation that requires immediate money (hereby not implying traveling expenses)
You can further reduce the expenses if you apply for a secured loan, because the lender's risk is also reduced in this case.
In the state of NY for example, you can have access to personal loans of up to $5,000 and with a repayment term of 36 months with rates varying between 8.99% and 15.85%.
Some lenders do charge extra fees, others don’t; that is subject to change from one lender to the other.
For example, at MT&T Bank, you can take out a personal loan of $5,000 with a fixed interest rate of 10.74% - where the minimum loan term is 12 months and the maximum is 36 months (loan value is also ranging from $5,000 to $10,000).
Next, Provident charges a little higher interest (13.70%) for the same amount and term but the interest rates are also fixed.
Among all personal loan lenders, HSBC charges the highest interest rate which is 15.85% for a loan of $5000 and with a maximum loan limit of $25,000 and maximum term 36 months. So, as you can notice, interest rates vary significantly for the same loan amount and the same repayment terms.
Now, if we take the state of California, there the interest rates charged for personal loan vary between 8.99% and 18%, which is quite a difference.
The lowest cost for such a personal loan is being offered by PenFed, with an interest of 8.99% for an amount of $5,000 and a term of 36 months maximum.
With Bank of the West, you will have to pay an arrangement fee of $50 and you will get a loan of $5,000 for a maximum term for repayment of 36 months and 14.25% interest rates.
The highest charged fees in the state of California for a personal loan are those charged by the Union Bank (18%), which also will charge you an additional fee of $100 for a loan of $5,000.
In New Jersey you will find interest rates varying between 8.99% offered by PenFed and 16.75% by Valley National Bank. PNC, Banco Popular and TD Banknorth will charge average 13.60% interest rates for loans of $2,000 to $5,000 with terms of repayment ranging 12 to 36 months.
The state of Washington comes perhaps with the lowest available interest rates for personal unsecured loans, and there banks offer 36 mo. term loans of $2,000 to $5,000 with interest rates ranging 8.99% -14.25% but also setup fees starting $50 to $125.
So, this was a short and quick run through the country in order to see the situation of personal loans in different states. You always must compare these loans in order to make sure you get the best deal for yourself.
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